We recently read with much interest the communication made by the Minister of Information Communication and Technology and Cyber security wherein he issued an ultimatum to the Mobile Network Operators to find a way to make all their mobile money platforms work together.
Interoperability is still in its nascent stages in Africa and it is believed that when implemented, it is a catalyst for growth in the mobile money sector and in our case here in Zimbabwe, it has been long overdue.
The benefits of implementing interoperability across the different operators is undoubtedly a positive one. It goes a long way towards the creation of a sustainable mobile money ecosystem, and it is good for customers, who are able to conduct their transactions irrespective of the network they are registered on. Its implementation is highly dependent on the need to get agreement regarding the technical integration process among the networks.
Indeed many operators in markets offering mobile money services in Sub-Sahara Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania, are exploring this functionality. Kenya has been working on it for a year and are now in the testin phase. Tanzania is still in early stages of implementation.
For Zimbabwe, the question is; Why now?
Why are the three mobile network operators – Telecel, Econet and NetOne – being asked to comply with this regulation almost immediately, and with the possibility for penalties for non-compliance?
That the operators should embrace and adopt interoperability after all these years is a logical progression. But should it not be coming from telecoms regulator POTRAZ, or the Central Bank (the RBZ)?
Who is really in charge of this area?
When we made some enquiries to the reasons why the implementation of interoperability had taken so long to achieve when the benefits to customers are so glaringly obvious, our sources within within the regulatory sphere indicated that when Ecocash had previously applied to do this a year ago, their application was turned down because it was perceived to be anti-competitive.
Knowing how Econet and Ecocash operate, and knowing their aggressiveness, it is likely that they are probably ahead of the curve, and ahead of the other players with a plan. We were therefore somewhat baffled by the ICT Minister’s mandatory request to enforce compliance.
We went ahead and tested if Ecocash customers could send money to customers of other networks, and found that they could in fact could do so, meaning that the EcoCash platform was in a way already compliant, and could handle interoperability. We were surprised to see that all the transactions we tried worked flawlessly.
All you do is register your NetOne or Telecel line via an Ecocash agent and submit your ID documents. After being registered, you download the EcoCash App, and you are good to go. So, it could be that OneMoney or TeleCash, which the Minister appears to want to help, are probably behind Econet?
And so, we do not understand what triggered the Minister’s request. However, we will leave it to the Minister to clarify, should he feel so inclined. Or perhaps the discussion should be moving further forward from interoperability, to social payments – in view of the tests that are said to be already underway in India, with WhatsApp?
